


Under the Stars

by i_maybe_exist



Series: Gremlin Gang [1]
Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:41:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26312062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_maybe_exist/pseuds/i_maybe_exist
Summary: A fallen star and a half-mermaid stargaze and have a chat about everything and nothing.
Series: Gremlin Gang [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1911823
Kudos: 1





	Under the Stars

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [A Serious Conversation Under the Stars](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/679183) by Unus Annus. 



> This was heavily inspired by both the Unus Annus video _A Conversation Under the Stars_ and the song _There Beneath_ by The Oh Hellos! Please go and watch/listen to them (especially the Unus Annus video, since it's going to be deleted in a couple of months), they're really good.

A girl and a boy walked to the top of the hill in the dead of night. The girl had bright teal hair, medium brown skin, and fins instead of ears. The boy had dark navy hair, freckles all over his body, and dark blue wings covered in golden flecks.

“What about here?” the girl asked.

“Maybe,” the boy replied. “What about under that willow tree? It’s higher up the hill, so we might be able to see better.”

“Hmm, yeah,” the girl said. “You’re right.” With that, she moved to where the boy was indicating and spread out a green blanket under the willow tree.

The girl and the boy laid down on it, and stared up at the night sky. It was full of stars and galaxies, spread out across the sky like a painting. Being in the middle of the forest did wonders for the sky, as every star shone so much brighter than it ever would have in the city. 

“So, this again,” the boy remarked.

The girl chuckled. “I suppose so.” 

“Let’s start with something kind of simple before we go completely off the rails. What’s your favorite constellation?" 

“I dunno, actually. I’ve always kinda liked the scorpion and the centaur constellations. The story is interesting, and the scorpion is the constellation for Scorpios. I’ve always been fascinated by astrology and all that zodiac stuff.”

“Huh. The stars for those constellations were too far away, so I never got to see them. The ones for the scorpion constellation kind of sounded like jerks though.”

The girl laughed. “I thought all stars were supposed to be nice to each other or whatever.”

The boy shrugged. “Not really. The only rules were to do your job and try not to show too much emotion. I heard that they were really passive-aggressive to everyone, and that technically didn’t break either of the rules.”

The girl nodded. “What’s your favorite constellation? I’d imagine that it’s probably for a different reason than anyone else.”

“Yeah, it is” the boy agreed with a smile. “I love the Big Dipper. The dude on the bottom right corner was really cute.” He sighed. “I wonder if he misses me…”

“How often do you think of him?”

“Almost every day.”

There was a pause.

“Trust me, I know how it feels,” the girl reassured him.

The boy thought for a bit. “Wait, who--oohhh.”

“Yeah,” the girl said uncomfortably.

“I-I’m sorry.”

“I could say the same for you.”

“Well, thank you.” The boy hesitated. “You know, even though it wasn’t your fault at all, and even though you apologize for it almost every time we come out here, I always feel a bit better when you do. I guess it feels like the universe is apologizing to me, somehow.”

“Oh-thank you too, then. Even though it doesn’t change anything, it makes me feel better as well.”

There was a long pause as the two beings observed the night sky.

“Are you where you think you would be in life right now?” the girl asked suddenly.

“That’s an interesting question,” the boy mused. “I don’t know where I thought I would be. I never thought that I would be here, of course.”

The boy thought for a bit longer. “All I know,” he said, “is that when I look at the stars-genuinely, when I look up at the stars-all I know for sure is that there are people who care about me. I’m not sure about up there, but I definitely know that the people down here care about me. And that’s all that really matters.”

The girl was silent, absorbing what the boy said.

“What about you?” the boy asked. “Do you have any regrets? Any mistakes that you would change?”

“No. I don't know if I’ve made many mistakes in life so far. I mean, obviously, everyone’s made so, so many mistakes, but as far as mistakes that I regret. I've made so many mistakes, but mistakes that I would take back?”

The girl reflected for a bit before saying, “I don’t know. Even the ones that really suck, it’s all just a learning experience. I am who I am because of the decisions I’ve made.”

“True.” Another pause. “I wonder who I would’ve been if I didn’t make any mistakes.”

“Probably a completely different person.”

“Oh, definitely. But who knows, right? I could’ve been a terrible person, but I also could’ve been a better person, or maybe doing something completely different, or even dead. ‘Different’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘worse’ or ‘bad’.”

“Of course,” the girl agreed. “Wait-stars can die? I always thought that they were immortal.”

“Yes. Stars burn out and die when the being manning the star dies themselves. Most stars just live longer than humans.”

“Oh.” The girl looked subdued. “Will you die? Or, I guess, can you die?”

“Truthfully? I don’t know. My star died when I fell, so it won’t burn out when I die. Plus, I’m in a different habitat now. That might change some things. I’ve heard that exiled stars live forever, but I’m not entirely sure if that’s true. I guess we’ll just find out.”

“Morbid.”

The boy smiled. “I suppose so.”

They stared up at the stars for a little while longer, until the boy remarked, “Life here is so different compared to life back home."

“Yeah? What were you thinking of specifically?”

“Just-it seems like nobody really cares about anything in the bigger picture, really. People don’t care about the planet, or different cultures, or even the galaxy itself.”

He hesitated. “I feel like it’s a weird thing to say, but some people take space, and even the universe, for granted.”

“What would you say to these people if you could talk to all of them at once?”

“Huh. That’s a tough one.” There was a brief pause as the boy reflected on the question.

“Just, that...there’s an insane amount of stars, that make up billions of different galaxies. Every tiny speck is a star. A whole star. A being, a group of beings, maybe even a whole civilization. It’s nice to check up on them every once in a while.”

The stars that the boy was talking about were shining bright white against the inky sky. They both could see a purple and pink galaxy swirl in the distance. While the two beings thought about what to say next, a comet streaked across the sky.

The girl finally said, “Have you ever thought about how we sit under the sky almost every night, and how we almost never see it like this? But, that doesn’t mean that the stars aren’t there. And there’s a whole universe that almost no one will never see the full extent of.”

“Quite a lot, actually. Even all the stars that I knew never got to the farthest ends of the universe. And I’ve wondered if, at the opposite end of it, there are stars trying to reach our end, too.”  


“Is that what some stars do?”

“Yeah, that’s what comets are.”

“What happens if they land on a planet?”

“They fizzle out and die. All that remains is a rock. If they remain, then we risk being found out.”

“Has that ever happened before?”

The boy wavered. “Once. But I don’t know much about it. I wasn’t old enough to learn about everything when I was up there.”

“Was there some status hierarchy or something? Also, how were you not old enough! You’re like two thousand years old already.”

“No, not even that. It was purely based on age. And even though people here think that saying that someone’s old is a bad thing, we stars consider it a compliment. So, thanks.”

“Sounds like a shitty system,” the girl snickered. “And I didn’t know that. Is it something based on how long you’ve lasted?”

“Pretty much. The longer you live, the longer you haven’t been killed in our eyes. And don’t worry, the aging system was, as you put it, ‘a shitty system’.”

There was a quick pause.

“How do they organize stuff in the mer-kingdoms and gangs?”

The girl shrugged. “No idea how the gangs handle things, since they’re all pretty small and spread out. As far as we do it, the higher up you are in either the royal line or military ranks, the more things you know. But anyone can learn about our history, no matter their age or rank.”

The boy looked impressed. “That makes way more sense than the system up there.”

“Yeah. I guess that’s more proof that mermaids are smarter than stars,” the girl remarked with a smile in her voice.

“Oh my stars-” the boy laughed. “That’s not true!”

The girl was laughing too, and when she calmed down she said, “In reality, who knows. Intelligence is such an undefined thing, and everyone’s intelligent in a different way.”

“Hmm,” the boy pondered. “Yes, you’re probably right. What…topic do you think you know the most about?”

“I feel like I have to say biochemistry,” the girl said. When the boy stared at her, confused, she explained, “That’s what I’m majoring in college, remember?”

“Oh. Sorry for forgetting.”

“It’s fine. I’m sure you have a lot more important things to remember instead of what I’m majoring in for college.”

The boy laughed. “No, not really. But thank you for being nice about it.”

“No problem,” the girl replied. “But anyway, as far as the topic that I think I know the most about, it’d probably be either science in general or combat.”

“Makes sense.”

“Yeah. What about you though? I have no idea which books you’ve read out of the ones I got you.”

“Well, I’d probably say psychology.”

“Really?” the girl looked at him with surprise. “I’d never have guessed that. I thought it would’ve been pop culture or astronomy.”

“No, I learned a fair amount of astronomy back when I was up there. It was the one thing that they tried to teach us. And I just don’t understand the point of pop culture. Plus, there’s so many different shows and movies and events to keep track of. I have no idea how you Earthlings do it.”

“Besides,” the boy said, arching his back and stretching his wings out, “I find psychology really interesting. It’s kind of neat figuring out how people work.”

“Yeah, I can see that.”

A couple of minutes passed by as they watched another comet fly across the sky.

“Do you know what comet that is?” the boy asked.

The girl grabbed her phone from her pocket. “I’m not sure, but I remember that it’s a really rare one and it only passes by every 6,000 years or so. Most people alive today probably won’t get the chance to see it again.”

“I hope lots of people get to see it.”

The girl looked around. “Judging by the fact that I don’t see anyone else, no. This is one of the best viewing spots in the city, but I guess people don’t know about it.”

“Or care,” the boy said sadly.

“I’m sure people do. It is a weeknight, so only the really hard-core people are gonna be out.”

The girl tapped her phone a couple of times, and stated, “It’s the Neowise comet. It only comes around every 6,000 years or so. Have you met the star behind this?”

The boy went quiet. “The name sounds familiar, but I don’t think so. It’s a shame, I’ve heard great things about them.”

They relaxed again, drinking in the stars.

“I’m kind of sad that there aren’t many people here,” the boy sighed after a minute or two. “More people should just appreciate the stars. It grounds you. I think that some people get scared, and think ‘Oh I’m tiny and insignificant’ or something like that.”

The girl responded, “I think that there’s a lot of beauty in that. And yeah, lots of people that I’ve talked to aren’t super fond of the sky purely because of how small it makes them feel.”

“There absolutely is,” the boy agreed.” I think it’s important to realize that there’s more to realize that what you see in your day-to-day life and that the universe is so much bigger and wondrous than you could ever imagine.”

“Totally. I mean, only about 20 percent of the ocean has been explored, and scientists have only explored such a small section of everything that’s in space. People should appreciate things, even if they don’t understand it.”

“Absolutely”, the boy responded. They sunk into a deep silence.

Over time, the sky changed from a deep indigo to a lighter cerulean and the stars slowly started to fade away. Both of the beings lying under the willow tree knew that they had to leave soon, though neither of them were anticipating it.

The boy rose up from the ground and propped himself up with his elbows. “Juliette?”

“Yeah, Dae?” the girl responded.

“Thanks for listening to me and having these long, meandering conversations with me.”

“No problem. I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else.”


End file.
